Darren Shan is on another adventure with Mr. Crepsley, but this one will take two books to fulfill. They must journey to Vampire Mountain to present Darren to the Vampire Council; they are both nervous because a vampire as young as Darren hasn't happened in a long time. The journey must be undertaken with no shoes-good thing vampires can stand the cold-and must be completed in a traditional manner. (Vampires are very big on tradition.) Along the way they find traces of vampaneze-killer vampires, their enemies. After making it to the mountain and being presented to the council, Darren decides to take the Challenge to prove his worth. The book ends there and in order to find out what happens you must get the fifth book. This vampire story is not gory and has some interesting mythology. I do wonder about the main character's name matching the author's. I would recommend having the whole series-my students will not be happy without having the rest of the story to finish.